Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Brown Daily Herald T hursday, M arch 13, 2008

Volume CXLIII, No. 35

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

As campaigns leave, some look back

Compute this: CS majors flatline nationwide

By Mitra Anoushiravani Contributing Writer

By Anne Simons Contributing Writer

Mitra Anoushiravani / Herald

Barack Obama’s Westminster Street office is closed now, and local businesses miss the excitement. senator’s campaign office.

Sales “definitely increased, no doubt about it,” MacDonald said.

“Just seeing the same faces every day, that’s what was great. They utilized every aspect of the business: coffee, food, cocktails and music. We served them well.”

“Foot traf fic definitely increased” and lunch times were “a little bit busier,” St. Amant said.

“A lot of the people from the

campaign asked if we had the Obama book, which we don’t have because we don’t carr y a lot of new releases,” she added with a laugh.

Obama’s office, about a 10-minute walk from Kennedy Plaza, sits near hip cafes and chic boutiques in a neighborhood that tends to draw the up-and-coming youth his campaign has attracted. Clinton’s office, across from a home-

less shelter on Broad Street, is situated among the families and working-class voters who have helped propel her candidacy.

“I think everyone was incredibly energized to have a campaign here,” said Ariel Werner ’09, a coordinator for Brown Students for Barack Obama. “People were able to walk into Westminster Street, continued on page 4

Court will stay true to public, Rosen says

By Olivia Hoffman Assistant Features Editor

Courtesy of Brown.edu

Dean of Engineering Greg Crawford

Dean to leave for Notre Dame

By Nick Bakshi Contributing Writer

Dean of Engineering Gregor y Crawford will leave Brown in July for the University of Notre Dame.

Crawford, who has been at the University for 12 years, will take over as dean of the College of Science at the South Bend, Ind., university.

Crawford said Notre Dame’s major selling point was its “unique character and mission,” adding that the school does “a lot for science and humanity” — a pairing, he went on to explain, that was central to his time at Brown.

As dean of the College of Science, Crawford will oversee more than1,000 students studying biology, chemistr y, math and physics, according to the school’s Web site. continued on page 4

POSTbreaks down Spring with dirty words and fancy toys www.browndailyherald.com

The Supreme Court of the United States has and will continue to make decisions that largely reflect majority public opinion, George Washington University Professor of Law Jeffrey Rosen told a nearly full Salomon 001 Wednesday afternoon. In a society threatened by “ubiquitous surveillance” and “cognitive profiling,” solutions require democratic deliberation, and the Supreme Court “would be fooling itself if it thinks it can solve these contested issues on its own,” he said.

Rosen’s lecture, titled “The Roberts Court and American Democracy,” was part of an annual event hosted by the Taubman Center for Quinn Savit / Herald Public Policy honoring the legacy Jeffrey Rosen said the Supreme Court can’t solve all the nation’s probof former Professor of Philosophy lems on its own, and must rely on democratic processes. and Dean of the College Alexander Meiklejohn, class of 1893.

Federal Communications Com- street-level images of certain locaRosen said it was a special mission. These policies establish tions, raises questions about the honor to deliver a lecture in “what’s worth saying and what can implications of such developments, Meiklejohn’s name, having been be said,” he said, while “judges can Rosen said. “There’s a difference “imbued with Meiklejohn’s most play a role only on the periphery, between your neighbor watching memorable aphorisms about the gently pushing toward the idea of you and the police.”

First Amendment” as a law school free speech.”

The court may suggest that student. Rosen added that MeikleRosen said the court is likely there are constitutional concerns john’s principle that democratic to face difficult controversies as with government surveillance, but discourse should protect the pub- a result of developing technology. Congress will have the final say, lic interest has been overcome by “Grave challenges will be posed he said. “I would not rely on the “unregulated talkativeness.” that go to the very core of who we Supreme Court to save us from “Technological changes have are as a liberal society,” he said, this particular challenge, although overtaken Meiklejohn’s vision,” adding that it’s useful to assess the a very serious challenge it is inRosen said. The future of free court’s role in the context of these deed.” speech will be determined not potential conflicts.

Rosen also addressed recent by the court, but by Internet serThe proliferation of surveillance advances in brain-scanning techvice providers and the regulatory technology such as “Google Street continued on page 4 policies of organizations like the View,” which allows users to view

5

CAMPUS NEWS

Parasitic problem Brown professor and grad student investigate schistosomiasis, a parasitic infection

11

OPINIONS

Red, white and you Sarah Rosenthal ’11 proposes that patriotism is more than just the fatigues

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

rain, 52 / 34

When the dot-com bubble burst several years ago, information technology professionals in Silicon Valley and investors everywhere suffered.

The shocks were felt around the world — even at Brown’s Center for Information Technology.

The number of undergraduates majoring in computer science is declining nationwide, according to the results of a recent survey by the Computing Research Association, a non-profit organization that collected the information from all U.S. universities granting doctorates in computer science.

The Computing Research Association released the findings of its annual Taulbee Survey that pertain to undergraduates on March 1. According to a press release from the CRA, the number of new students concentrating in computer science in Fall 2007 was half of the number in Fall 2000. Enrollment has also been falling, with an 18-percent decrease seen between 2005-06 and 2006-07. Still, there has been some moderate stabilization in these numbers in the last couple of years.

Brown seems to be following the national trend. According to data from the Office of Institutional Research, the number of students completing computer science concentrations has decreased over the past few years — from 76 students in 2003 to 27 students in 2007.

Enrollment in CS courses, however, hasn’t steadily increased or decreased over the past decade.

Brown has also had relatively stable numbers of advanced degrees awarded in computer science, according to the OIR. Universities are working hard to lure more computer science students, said Stuart Zweben, chair of surveys committee at the CRA and associate dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio State University.

The National Science Foundation continued on page 6

Brown CS concentrators over the past decade 80

CS concentrations completed

Terri St. Amant had to get used to the presidential campaigns when they first rolled through town. The saleswoman at Symposium Books, downtown on Westminster Street, said she wasn’t accustomed to the lively atmosphere and hub-bub that staffers brought into the shop.

Now, she said, she misses the flavor added by Barack Obama’s campaign office to the city’s vibe.

With a wave of national politics sweeping through Rhode Island earlier this month, Obama’s and Hillar y Clinton’s campaigns opened of fices in Providence.

But now, the primar y’s over, the bustling offices are gone — and some Providence businesses and campaign volunteers wish they were still around.

“We were definitely disappointed to see them go, and we joked, ‘Oh, it’s going to affect our business,’ ” said Daren MacDonald, the coffee manager at Tazza Caffe, across the street from the Illinois

Fewer students make CIT their home at Brown

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tomorrow’s weather Providence test scores and CS concentrator numbers take a hint from the local precipitation — ­ by falling

News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

T oday Page 2

Thursday, March 13, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Menu

But Seriously | Charlie Custer and Stephen Barlow

Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Vegan Tofu Raviolis with Sauce, Santa Rosa Calzone, Savory Spinach, Crispy Oat Cookies

Lunch — Hot Roast Beef on French Bread, Summer Squash, Nacho Bar, Cheesecake Brownies

Dinner — Vegetarian Gnocchi ala Sorrentina, Roast Turkey with Sauce, Stuffing, Black and White Pudding Cake

Dinner — Turkey Cutlet with Herb Lemon Sauce, Pasta Spinach Casserole, Vegetable Egg Rolls. Braised Cauliflower

Nightmarishly Elastic | Adam Robbins

Sudoku Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Enigma Twist | Dustin Foley

© Puzzles by Pappocom

RELEASE DATE– Thursday, March 13, 2008

Los Angeles Times Puzzle C r o sDaily s w oCrossword rd

Trust Ben | Ben Leubsdorf

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Deputies: Abbr.

5 Dizzy genre?

10 Put a sharper edge on 14 Siena sweetie 15 Mission to remember 16 Gutter site 17 “You wish!”

18 Hick 19 “Stripes” director Reitman 20 Dental work that’s insured?

23 Sundial numeral 24 Dismiss 25 Most of Algeria 28 It’s more than twice the size of Texas 30 Apiece 32 Cat’s pajamas?

33 Defective bit of dental work?

36 Sphere starter 39 Penlight battery 40 Syracuse mascot __ the Orange 41 Buckingham Palace dental work?

46 Pol.’s place 47 Suffix with 27Down 48 Popular pieces 52 Samovar, e.g.

54 Support 55 QB’s mishap 56 Dental work kids can’t damage?

60 Enterprise navigator 62 Angel who directs Satan to Earth in “Paradise Lost” 63 Green shade 64 One with a mouse 65 Beyond foolish 66 “__ it get to me” 67 Mariner gp.

68 They may be overstuffed 69 WWII journalist DOWN 1 Mimosa family tree 2 Petroleum distillate used as fuel

3 It’s of little consequence 4 Lockbox 5 Two-day ordeal, usually 6 Dodge 7 Offensive line 8 General Bradley 9 Future bureaucrat’s major, briefly 10 Consider carefully 11 Lose one’s cool 12 Costar of Teri, Felicity, et al.

13 Word with speed or spot 21 Tool often used around Halloween 22 Wonka’s creator 26 Litter’s littlest 27 Fabled craft 29 Keycard receiver 30 Make official 31 Where pilgrims come from?

34 Pearl Harbor site 35 Helpless?

36 Drive the getaway car, say 37 Faithful 38 Pocketful in a 1961 Capra title

42 Cross inscription 43 California coastal city, familiarly 44 Team nicknamed the Birds 45 “The Things __ for Love” 49 The Strait of Messina separates it from Italy 50 Nail covering

51 Neighbor of Tampa, Fla. 53 60-Across crewmate 54 Where the action is 57 Bond nemesis 58 “La Vie en Rose” singer 59 Resell quickly 60 Daily riser 61 “Burn Notice” network

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Opus Hominis | Miguel Llorente

xwordeditor@aol.com

3/13/08

Gus vs. Them | Zachary McCune and Evan Penn

T he B rown D aily H erald

By Billie Truitt (c)2008 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

3/13/08

If you could do one thing on College Hill today: Go to Fusion Dance Company’s annual show Ashamu Dance Studio, 8 p.m.

Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372

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M etro Thursday, March 13, 2008

Standardized test rule may keep some from graduating

By Simon van Zuylen-Wood Senior Staff Writer

The state-wide standardized tests administered annually, on which Rhode Island high school pupils performed poorly last October, may soon affect students’ graduation status. The Rhode Island Department of Education is planning to revise its current graduation requirements, established in 2003, to require highschool juniors to not only complete but also show proficiency on state assessment tests.

Seniors graduating in 2008 are the first to work within the 2003 requirements. If the revised requirements pass the Regents board, they will take effect for the class of 2010.

The Regents board plans on making the statewide standardized New England Common Assessment Program tests count toward one-third of the total graduation requirements, though it is possible to fail the test and still graduate. The other graduation requirements are successful course completion and a senior project, exam or portfolio.

Completing the NECAP tests currently counts for one-tenth of Rhode Island graduation requirements. Under the proposed plan, the scores would also appear on high school transcripts. They currently do not.

2007 NECAP scores were released on Feb. 27, and there were two public hearings on the proposed revisions

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

on March 4 and March 6.

22 percent of Rhode Island’s students were proficient in mathematics, compared to 28 percent for New Hampshire students. 61 percent of Ocean State juniors were proficient in reading and 33 percent were in writing, according to a Feb. 27 RIDE press release.

In the release, Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65 said about the scores, “Too many of our students today do not have access to the rigorous instruction or the supports needed to meet high math standards.”

The new plan was drafted on Dec. 19, but has been “in the works for four years,” according to RIDE press secretary Elliot Krieger.

Rhode Island’s poor NECAP test results did not influence the new plan, which preceded the release of the results, Krieger said. They may, however, do even more to encourage a vote in favor of the new requirements, said Regents Board Secretary Colleen Callahan.

“Maybe these students aren’t doing as well on these tests as they could because they don’t take it seriously,” Callahan said, adding that increasing NECAP’s relevance to students might improve scores.

“Because statewide assessment is not used for graduation decisions like they do in Massachusetts, there was an interest ... to raise the stakes,” continued on page 8

Carcieri ’65 challenges Narragansett sovereignty

By Alessandra Suuberg Contributing Writer

This fall, lawyers for Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65 and the town of Charlestown, R.I. will argue a case involving American Indian land claims at the U.S. Supreme Court. Carcieri and the town are challenging the right of the U.S. Department of Interior to transfer sovereignty of Ocean State land to the local Narragansett Indian Tribe after the tribe purchased it in 1991.

The case comes on the heels of a decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston last year to allow the DOI to appropriate state land into trust for the Narragansett Tribe, according to a Feb. 25 press release from the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office. Dissatisfied with the Court’s decision, Carcieri and the town of Charlestown — in which the 31 acres in question are located ­— will take their case against the DOI to the next level in federal court.

In their Supreme Court brief, representatives of the 16 supporting states wrote that the First Circuit’s decision was not justified.

They wrote that the Court misinterpreted the Rhode Island Indian Claims Settlement Act and the Indian Reogranization Act of 1934, which “grants the Secretary of the Interior unfettered discretion to take land within any State into trust ‘for Indians.’ ” Carcieri and Charlestown officials argue that the Narragansetts

were not recognized as a tribe when the IRA was passed in 1934, and therefore is not entitled to soveriengty over the land, according to the Feb. 25 Boston Globe article.

Thomas said that the tribe never gave up its right to acquire sovereign land or to self govern when they became federally recognized in 1983.

“It always comes down to sovereignty,” said Lincoln Chafee ’75, former senator and visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies, regarding Rhode Island’s objection to the ruling.

Chafee said taking the land out of state jurisdiction creates complications for Rhode Island. “For instance, if there is a crime committed on the tribal land, does the tribal police investigate it? Does the state police investigate it?” Chafee said. “There are some thorny issues associated with sovereignty. And that’s just a piece of it.”

Chafee added that the statewide hot topic of gambling is also “absolutely at the core” of the case. The tribe purchased the land in 1991 to build a housing complex for the elderly, but Narragansett Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas has said the tribe may build a casino on the land, in violation of Rhode Island law, according to a Feb. 25 Boston Globe article.

“The unfortunate thing ... is that Rhode Island has expanded its gaming with only minimal involvement of the Narragansett Indians,” Chafee said. “I should think, as Rhode

Island is a state with two (gaming) venues — one in Lincoln and one in Newport — that there would be some effort to reach out (to) the (Narragansett) Tribe, and that would lessen the need for these legal arguments.”

Beyond its implications for the state, the case, called Carcieri v.

Kempthorne, could also set precedent on a national level, wrote Mike Healey, spokesman for Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch ’87, in an e-mail to The Herald.

“If Rhode Island wins, the precedent is that the United States may be very limited as to which tribes they can take land into trust for,” Healey wrote. “The direct result of such a precedent is that states will lose control over less land because the United States will not be able to take as much from the states’ jurisdiction.”

Nationwide, the DOI has taken into trust an area equal to twice the size of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined, and continues to receive applications from tribes annually, according to a Supreme Court brief filed on behalf of Carcieri and Charlestown.

“For too long, the legitimate concerns of states in the federal land-totrust process have been ignored. It is simply not acceptable for any state to be stripped of its sovereignty over land within its borders by mid-level bureaucrats in Washington,” Carcieri said in a Feb. 25 press release. continued on page 8

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Thursday, March 13, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Rosen: Court won’t solve Clinton, Obama campaigns close shop modern problems alone continued from page 1

continued from page 1 nology that may threaten privacy by eventually granting access to the content of individuals’ memories.

Making predictions about predispositions for dangerous behavior contradicts the constitutional value of freedom of thought, he said. “You’re responsible for what you do, not who you are.”

This type of control and screening may begin before birth, Rosen said, given the development of genetic screening and cloning technology. “Imagine parents demanding designer babies,” he said. “This is indeed the modern version of eugenics.”

But judges are in no better position to determine whether this technology is being used for “therapy” or for “enhancement,” Rosen said.

Instead of trying to define this “mysterious point,” they should be deferential, avoiding extreme positions and allowing the ultimate balance to be determined politically.

Though technology poses novel challenges, according to Rosen, it has not fundamentally changed the role of the Supreme Court. The court’s most enduring decisions have been those that reflect and support public consensus.

Racial equality and free speech arose because of campaigns like the Civil Rights and abolitionist movements, Rosen said. “These principles have emerged more bottom-up than top-down from judges,” he said. “Courts belatedly codify principles that the rest of the coun-

try has come to accept.”

“I’m not dismissing or trivializing the role of judges in confronting the threats to liberty and security,” Rosen said. “I just wouldn’t put all my weight on them.”

Rosen said the current Supreme Court will likely follow this pattern, making decisions that are consistent with public opinion instead of acting unilaterally.

“The court’s ability to be a democratic institution is always precarious,” Rosen said. “For the moment, says the magic eight ball, the system looks relatively calm.”

He added that Meiklejohn’s broader vision of political balance “remains relevant and fresh.”

Manuel Possolo ’09 said the technological issues Rosen presented were relevant and thoughtprovoking. “In considering them, you become more aware of certain constitutional questions that might arise,” he said.

Dan Butler ’09 said he enjoyed considering the issues Rosen covered in a modern context. “What’s interesting in my mind is how Roberts is going to use his power in this particular situation,” he said.

But, Butler said, “these arguments themselves have always been around.”

“It was such a great lecture, but when it comes down to it, they’re the same discussions we’ve been having about democratic constitutionalism for the last 200 years,” Butler said. “I don’t know how much we can really add to the discussion.”

where our office was, through the heart of Providence and see the physical campaign presence and the diversity of people that were in the office.”

Perhaps revealing a more playful side to a serious operation, Oop! Think Happy also saw a fair share of extra activity during the campaign flurry. Down the street from the Obama office, the shop sells quirky items such as “Get Lucky” gum and “Understand Your Mother Instantly” breath spray.

Leila Jenkins, an employee at Oop! said, “Our busy times were different than they are regularly.

It was really nice. It felt like the neighborhood was politicized and there were signs everywhere,” she said. “We had a lot of out-of-state volunteers come in here.”

“We’re hoping that if Obama gets the nomination, they’ll be right back in there,” MacDonald added with a chuckle.

But Werner said she doesn’t see that happening because Rhode Island has historically always been a Democratic state. “I doubt that whoever is the nominee would spend any time at all in Rhode Island,” she said.

A few blocks south, Hillary Clinton campaign volunteers had set up an office at 125 Broad Street.

Clinton’s office has a sign offering the property for sale or lease now, but the office was so busy a few weeks ago that campaign officials used up many of the building’s 70 parking spots, according to Christine Heenan, the communications director for Clinton’s campaign in

Mitra Anourisivani / Herald

Hillary Clinton’s campaign headquarters, on Broad Street, was chosen for its centrality and large parking lot.

Rhode Island and an adjunct lecturer in public policy.

“Headquarters were chosen for centrality and access,” she said.

“There were volunteers that needed easy access, and the building was right off the freeway.”

Across the street, Timothy Andrews, originally from Walnut Creek, Calif., but now living in the Crossroads shelter, said, “I’ve observed for several days, maybe a week, their delegation hanging around and hanging signs.” Employees at the shelter declined to speak with The Herald.

The office buildings that both Clinton and Obama’s campaign offices occupied are now up for lease by their owners. Both owners declined to tell The Herald how much leasing the buildings cost the candidates.

Now that the campaign offices

have closed shop, some campaign volunteers are looking for other ways to help their candidates win the nomination.

Jeremy Feigenbaum ’11, a Clinton campaign volunteer, wrote in an e-mail that he would be in Pennsylvania for a few days during spring break to help the campaign effort there. “Many of the staff members from the RI office will also be headed there, since that is truly the next battleground state,” he wrote.

Werner said that she will be involved in organizing trips to Pennsylvania as the April 22 primar y date nears.

“There’s not much I can do in Rhode Island, but we will definitely be fundraising and running phone banks on campus,” she said. “I know lots of students that will be heading to Pennsylvania over the break, too.”

Engineering losing its leader to Notre Dame continued from page 1 At Notre Dame, these fields are taught in a school separate from engineering, which has its own college, the Web site said.

“Greg Crawford brings unbounded energy, fresh ideas and an entrepreneurial spirit to the College of Science,” the Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, said in a statement. “He is drawn to the distinctive mission of Notre Dame — the pursuit of truth in the Catholic intellectual tradition and the promotion of science in the service of humanity. I am delighted to welcome him.”

Crawford, who first came to the University as an assistant professor in 1996, has spent the last decade exploring everything from the pedagogy of entrepreneurship to liquid cr ystal and polymer materials.

In 2006, he helped start the Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship, a project that aims to bridge the gap between business and science, he said.

Crawford said the program allowed him to collaborate with doctors at Alpert Medical School, showing him the possibilities for interdisciplinar y science studies.

Students and colleagues characterized Crawford as driven, outgoing and, though at times unbelievably busy, also attentive to students’ needs.

“As a bold leader, he ignores the improbable and focuses on the possible,” David Targan, associate dean of the College for science education, wrote in an e-mail.

Targan added that the Division of Engineering would “miss his infectious smile, indefatigable drive and compassion.”

“He’s a fun guy to hang out with even if you’re a 25-year-old grad student,” said John McMurdy GS, a fourth-year grad student who has Crawford as his thesis adviser.

McMurdy said that, though Crawford’s graduate advisees were generally happy for their mentor, some expressed concerns about the difficulty of switching advisers mid-way through their research.

“The greatest thing about (Crawford) is his ability to be flexible toward the needs of students and to encourage them in what they want to do,” said Robert Neville ’08, who has Crawford as an independent study adviser.

Crawford said the University is still searching for his replacement.

Read Reread Recycle

C ampus n ews Thursday, March 13, 2008

Cul

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Bergeron leaves desk for chanting Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron has given numerU. Hall Idol ous speeches at convocations, events and forums. But last • Prelude, Rosaleen Rhee ’08 night in the Grant Recital Hall, on piano the music professor sang a dif• Masks, Christine Clancy ’07 ferent tune — literally. Bergeron on flute and piccolo, Bruce was one of eight musicians who Hopkins on trumpet performed the music of Richard • Linearity, created by Richard Felciano in an event supportFelciano ed by the Department of Music • Responsory , sung by and the Multimedia and ElecKatherine Bergeron tronic Music Experiments pro• The Angels of Turtle Island, gram. sung by Nancy Rosenberg, Felciano, professor emeriwith Clancy on flute, Nat tus at the University of CaliforSeelen ’08 on percussion, nia at Berkeley, composed the Charles Sherba on violin pieces, which meld technoland Kevin Patton GS on live ogy — or “live electronics,” as electronics the program called it — with instrumental and vocal music. Bergeron’s performance, called “Responsory,” was a chant in which the dean sang solo into a microphone that then created a feedback echo for her song, making the dean’s voice her own back-up chorus.

Bergeron, who has performed music since her college days, said she only recently began singing seriously. Performing music is a completely different experience from giving a speech to an audience, Bergeron told The Herald. “When you’re speaking, in public, you’re trying to reach them with rhetoric, and when you’re performing music you’re trying to reach them with time,” she said. “I actually feel very different when I perform in front of an audience,” she added. “In fact I don’t think very much about the audience.”

She said she has known Felciano since they were colleagues at Berkeley. She has a special connection with Felciano, she said, because the piece she performed was a Gregorian chant he wrote, and she has been involved in these chants in her scholarly work.

David Walker ’11, who is in a MEME ensemble, said he appreciated the way the piece incorporated live music with electronics.

He added that it was a new experience to see Bergeron in a musical role. “I’ve never really seen her perform before, but I know she’s a performer,” he said. Bergeron’s performance “was actually my favorite piece,” he added. He noted that he especially enjoyed “the interplay between the live feedback and her performance.”

The composer himself, who arrived on campus Sunday to work with the performers in their final rehearsals, was there to watch the fruits of his labors. He told The Herald he was not disappointed.

“The performance was wonderful.,” Felciano said. “I mean, they’re great musicians and they understood the music — that’s not music a lot of people can just immediately walk into.”

— Franklin Kanin

B last from the past

April Parker / Herald File Photo

On April 12, 1992, Audrey Hepburn presented the Alan Shawn Feinstein Awards for the Prevention and Reduction of World Hunger in Salomon 101.

Hepburn received an honorary citation from President Vartan Gregorian.

Research shows parasite more dangerous than thought

By Hudson Leung Contributing Writer

Watch out, schistosomiasis warriors.

Brown researchers have found you’re in for more of a challenge than previously thought.

A study published March 5 by a Brown professor and an alum shows the parasitic infection’s effect on global health is more significant than was known.

A team of researchers led by Julia Finkelstein ’05, now a graduate student in nutritional anthropology at the Har vard School of Public Health, evaluated field research conducted in the Philippines by Stephen McGarvey, professor of community health and anthropology.

They found that the disease burden of the parasite Schistosoma japonicum is “seven to 46 times greater than current global estimates” made by the World Health Organization’s Global Burden of Disease Project, a University statement said.

“Disease burden is composed of the number of years lost because of early death or disability,” Finkelstein said. The previous estimates did not fully account for the level of disability caused by this disease and thus underestimated its impact on global health, she said.

Schistosomiasis infects over 200 million people, mostly in developing nations, according to the release. It is caused by five species of flatworms, said Helene Carabin, associate professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and epidemiology specialist on the research team. The parasites, spread by snails, typically enter the body through the skin when people use water containing the flatworms, Carabin said. The parasites often attach near the digestive system as they take nutrition from the host, causing diarrhea, intestinal bleeding, anemia, enlarged spleen, organ damage and, in rare cases, brain damage, Carabin added.

The original research goes back to 1999, he said. McGarvey “had been working in the Philippines on that worm for several years,” Carabin said. After seeing a proposal from the NIH seeking research into the ecology of infectious diseases, Mc-

Courtesy of Goldsmith & Kean

A 16-year-old boy infected with Schistosoma japonicum.

Garvey decided to apply for a grant, Carabin said.

McGarvey could not be reached for comment.

One particular strain, called japonicum, can cause brain infection at slightly higher rates than other strains, but “what’s special about japonicum, unlike the other strains, is that it can infect a very large number of mammals,” Carabin said. As a result, unlike the other Schistosoma parasites, eradication of the disease cannot be achieved by simply treating humans and snails.

“Even if you treat humans and say humans can be infected by the strain which affects dogs, you’d also need to take care of the dogs,” Carabin said. “In terms of the ecology, it’s very, very complex. It also has a snail in its life cycle, so when you put all these animals and the snail (to-

gether), it makes it a very interesting ecological model. So that’s why we decided to apply to that grant.”

The results of his team’s study may support greater funding for studying and treating schistosomiasis, according to Mark Schleinitz, assistant professor of medicine and a member of the research team. “We also point out that our methods might be useful in assessing the overall morbidity of other multi-system infections,” he wrote in an e-mail.

“I’m hopeful that our findings will help inform more accurate assessments of disease burden of schistosomiasis and more broadly for infectious disease,” Finkelstein said.

“We’re hoping our finding will help drive the global agenda for schistosomiasis and infectious diseases worldwide.”

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Number of CS concentrators at low point continued from page 1 is funding a program at Ohio State that combines entrepreneurial and computing skills for a small number of students. As undergraduates, these students will work in the information technology industry to gain real-life experience, he said.

At Brown, the Department of Computer Science teams up with the Office of Admission to host an all-day program for high school seniors interested in computer science. Prospective students can hear from faculty and students about what they might do as computer science concentrators, said Thomas Doeppner, associate professor of research in the department and director of undergraduate studies.

While the number of concentrators might be decreasing, enthusiasm for the field is not, Doeppner said. In general, those who were less enthusiastic about computer science decide to pursue another field. Those with a more profound interest stuck with it, he said. Currently, about three-quarters of CS concentrators have chosen to pursue the bachelor of science degree, which has more requirements than the bachelor of arts degree, Doeppner said.

“At peak times, it was sometimes the other way around,” he said. The higher percentage of Sc.B. concentrators shows that extremely committed students are still pursuing computer science, he said.

Despite the downturn in job oppor tunities for computer sci-

ence graduates after the dot-com boom went bust, Doeppner said he doesn’t hear much from computer science concentrators worried about getting jobs. Instead, he said, he talks more with parents — especially those of high school seniors — worried that their children won’t be able to find jobs.

“We can guess” about the causes of the decline, said Jay Vegso, manager of membership and information services at CRA. The students graduating in 2007 began college in 2003, during the fallout of the dot-com crisis. They may have been scared off because they felt there wouldn’t be any jobs, he said.

Vegso also said the media’s highlighting of the threat of offshore outsourcing probably contributed to students’ worries about job prospects. Both Vegso and Doeppner also cited the increasing utility of computer science skills in other fields as a reason students would take CS classes but concentrate in other subjects.

The job situation for current concentrators is no longer so dire, Vegso said, adding that the drop-off in computer science concentrators has created a shortage of qualified workers. He cited numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that state that the IT workforce is expected to grow at twice the rate of the workforce in general between 2006 and 2016.

Brown computer science graduates aren’t having trouble finding jobs, Doeppner said. Companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Oracle are popular choices, he said. Certain industries within

IT, such as computer game design, are growing and creating new job opportunities for concentrators, he said. At Ohio State, students also get to experience the fun of sorting through their job offers, Zweben said.

Aurojit Panda ’08, a computer science concentrator who will be working for Microsoft as a programmer after graduation, said the job search “turned out to be not ver y bad.” He added that the department has alumni contacts that can make the process easier.

Jonathan Rhone ’08, another concentrator, said he already has a job with Oracle, though he’s not sure exactly what he’ll be doing for them. Both students said they might go to graduate school later in life, but not right away.

The signs of stabilization in the statistics both nationally and at Brown may signal that the IT field is turning around. “I think we have hit bottom and are on the way up,” Doeppner said. Zweben said he expects to see “more controlled growth” in the future.

CRA released undergraduate data early because of the highinterest level from the press, and it will release data on graduate students in May, Vegso said. The numbers of advanced degrees awarded actually shows a trend opposite to that of bachelor’s degrees: The numbers of computer science Ph.Ds awarded per year have shown large increases for the last several years, Vegso said, partly because those who couldn’t find jobs in the early 2000s entered graduate school instead.

Final ‘Harry Potter’ book will spawn 2 movies

By Geoff Boucher Los Angeles T imes

WATFORD, England — It’s official: Eight will be the magic number for the “Harry Potter” film franchise.

After months of rumors, Warner Bros. and the producers of the massively successful movies will announce Thursday that they plan to split “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” J.K. Rowling’s seventh and final “Potter” novel, into two blockbuster films — one to be released in November 2010 and the second in May 2011.

The films will be titled, simply, “Harr y Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I” and “Harr y Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II,” according to producer David Heyman. Director David Yates, who returned for his second tour of Potter duty with “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and is quite popular with the cast, will direct both “Deathly Hallows” films, which will be filmed concurrently.

Screenwriter Steve Kloves also returns and, by completion of the franchise, will have written seven of the eight films.

One devoted “Potter” reader that is especially happy to hear the news is Daniel Radcliffe, the 18-year-old actor who plays the title character in the wizardry epic.

Some cynics will see the move as simply doubling the box-office payday, but Radcliffe told the Los Angeles Times that the split is

purely in service of the story.

“I think it’s the only way you can do it without cutting out a huge portion of the book,” Radcliffe said recently during a break on the set of “Half-Blood Prince,” the sixth “Potter” film, which is due in theaters Nov. 21. “There have been compartmentalized subplots in the other books that have made them easier to cut — although those cuts were still to the horror of some fans — but the seventh book doesn’t really have any subplots. It’s one driving, pounding story from the word go.”

Producer David Heyman said the decision was made with some anxiety and only after considerable deliberations. The producer joked that “while my wife and Warner Brothers were pleased” to hear that the Potter movie magic will continue into the next decade, he himself fretted that the cynical observers would see the decision as a purely mercenary move.

“I swear to you it was born out of purely creative reasons,” Heyman said during an interview in a converted airplane factory outside London that has been home base to all of the “Potter” productions.

“Unlike every other book, you cannot remove elements of this book.

You can remove scenes of Ron playing quidditch from the fifth book, and you can remove Hermione and S.P.E.W. (Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare) and those subplots ... but with the seventh,

Thanks for reading.

that can’t be done.”

Heyman said he approached Rowling with some trepidation about the strategy but found that she signed off on its logic rather quickly. “I went to Jo and she was cool with it,” Heyman said, “and that was quite a relief.”

Rowling has also been a more frequent visitor to the sixth movie’s set than with previous installments.

One big reason is that she is no longer busy trying to finish the “next” Potter book; she walked away from her signature character in July 2007, when the climactic “Deathly Hallows” hit stores, and continued the history-making ways of the series by selling 11 million copies during its first 24 hours on shelves.

The filming of “Half-Blood Prince” began in September, and Radcliffe said “it’s been brilliant.”

He added: “It’s also, I think, the funniest of the films so far.”

The “Potter” films have pulled in a staggering $4.5 billion at the box office worldwide. Heyman said now that the “Potter” team knows they can split “Deathly Hallows” in half, the next challenge is figuring out the division.

As Heyman put it: “The question will be, where do you break it? And how do you make them one but two separate and distinct stories? Do you break it with a moment of suspense or one of resolution? These are the interesting challenges. But each book has presented its challenges.”

w orld & n ation Thursday, March 13, 2008

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Spitzer to step down as N.Y. governor Ferraro quits Clinton campaign over remarks

By Perry Bacon Jr. Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Former Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro resigned Wednesday from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s, D-N.Y., finance committee after her suggestion that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is where he is politically because he is black touched off a renewed round of charges that Clinton’s allies are injecting race into the campaign.

Ferraro, a former New York congresswoman and the first woman to run on a major-party ticket, did not apologize for her comments but said that she was resigning because “the Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you” and that she would not let that happen.

In an appearance Wednesday night before the National Newspaper Publishers Association, which represents more than 200 black community newspapers, Clinton was asked whether she has “done enough to send a message that these kinds of insensitive comments will not be tolerated.”

Clinton replied that “I certainly do repudiate” the remarks. “She doesn’t speak for the campaign,” she said of Ferraro. “She has resigned from being a member of my very large finance team.”

Clinton distanced herself from Ferraro on Tuesday after the comments, implicitly linking her comments to those of Samantha Powers, an Obama aide who called Clinton a “monster” and then resigned. Clinton said it was “regrettable” that any of her supporters, or Obama’s, “say things that veer off into the personal.”

Ferraro’s resignation came a day after the Mississippi Democratic presidential primary, in which Obama captured 90 percent of the black vote, highlighting the problem Clinton now has in attracting African American support. That backing began to slip in part because of former president Bill Clinton’s comparison of Obama’s victory in South Carolina to Jesse L. Jackson’s wins there in 1984 and 1988.

Asked Wednesday night at the meeting of black publishers whether she could “regain the confidence and the trust of the African American community” after her husband’s remark, Clinton replied: “I am sorry if anyone was offended. It was certainly not meant in any way to be offensive. We can be proud of both Jesse Jackson and Senator Obama.”

As in her other appearances before black audiences, Clinton did not use the more aggressive critiques of Obama that have come to define her stump speeches, reflecting the delicate balance of trying to win black votes despite running against a black candidate and the controversial remarks some of her supporters have made.

On the day of Ohio and Texas primaries last week, in a series of more than two dozen satellite interviews, Clinton repeatedly criticized Obama for taking policy stands that she considers to be inconsistent with his rhetoric. Immediately after those interviews, she went on the radio program of Tom Joyner, an African American radio personality with an audience of millions and focused exclusively on her more policy-oriented differences, namely saying that she has more experience and a better universal health-care plan than her rival, while noting that “Senator Obama and I share a lot of the same views.”

Minyon Moore, who works on black outreach for the Clinton campaign, said, “Obviously we would like to have more support from the African American community, and we will continue to work for it.”

Obama supporters have suggested that Bill Clinton’s references to Obama’s race are part of a broad pattern and will end up harming all Democrats. Eric Holder, an African American who served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration and is now a co-chairman of Obama’s campaign, said: “Some people in the other campaign have to think about not only their own interests, but the interest of the party.”

By Keith Richburg and Carrie Johnson Washington Post

NEW YORK — New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a rising Democratic Party star who won election 16 months ago as a crusading reformer against corruption, announced his resignation Wednesday after being ensnared in a federal investigation that exposed his double life as a longtime regular client of high-priced prostitutes.

With his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, at his side, Spitzer apologized for what he said were “my private failings,” and said he is stepping down so as not to “disrupt the people’s work.” He said the resignation will take affect on Monday, March 17, to give his successor, Lt. Gov. David Paterson, time to make a smooth transition.

Spitzer’s resignation still leaves him in legal limbo, with prosecutors having given no public signals whether he might face prosecution. Three high-profile criminal defense attorneys who accompanied Spitzer to his Manhattan office, where he made his announcement, are tr ying to resolve his legal predicament with federal prosecutors.

Though Spitzer’s legal troubles appear likely to drag on, there was a palpable sense of relief in Albany, the capital, and across the state that the tawdr y sex scandal of the previous 48 hours — being played out in graphic detail in the pages of the local tabloid newspapers — was becoming his private legal matter and that the state could return to its normal business. Legislators of both parties rushed to praise Paterson, 53, who will become New York’s first African American governor and the first governor of any state who is legally blind.

“When one door closes, another door opens up,” said state assembly member James Tedisco, who had threatened to lead impeachment proceedings against

EPA lowers air pollution standards to levels far lower than scientists want

By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday lowered the allowable amount of smog-forming ozone in the air to 75 parts per billion, a level significantly higher than what the agency’s scientific advisers had urged for this key component of unhealthy air pollution.

Administrator Stephen Johnson also said he would push Congress to rewrite the nearly 37-year old Clean Air Act to allow regulators to take into consideration the cost and feasibility of controlling pollution when making decisions about air quality, something that is currently prohibited by the law. In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that the government needed to base the ozone standard strictly on protecting public health, with no regard to cost.

The new smog rules — one of the most important environmental decisions facing the Bush administration

in the president’s final year in office — will be a major factor in determining the quality of the air Americans will breathe for at least a decade.

The standards, which are aimed at protecting both public health and welfare, are designed to limit the amount of nitrogen oxides and other chemical compounds released into the air by vehicles, manufacturing facilities and power plants. In sunlight, the pollutants form ozone.

Johnson said he did “what was required by the law and the recent scientific evidence,” but his decision to set a higher limit than what the EPA’s advisory committees had recommended sparked an immediate backlash from Democratic lawmakers, public health advocates and even his own independent advisers.

With Democrats in control of Congress, the proposal to rewrite the Clean Air Act appears to face long odds. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., called the move “outrageous,” adding in a

statement, “The Bush Administration would have us replace clean air standards driven by science with standards based on the interests of polluters.”

Johnson said the law “is not a relic to be displayed in the Smithsonian, but a living document that must be modernized to continue realizing results,” adding that some administration officials urged him to take into consideration the “costs, net benefits and implementation challenges” of adopting stricter ozone limits.

Nearly a year ago, EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee reiterated in writing that its members were “unanimous in recommending” that the agency set the standard no higher than 70 parts per billion (ppb) and to consider a limit as low as 60 ppb. EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee and public health advocates lobbied for the 60 ppb limit on the grounds that children are more vulnerable to air pollution.

the governor if he had tried to stay in his job. “We’ve gotten this distraction over with, which had really gridlocked everything. We’re excited about the potential of our new governor.”

Spitzer’s fall was all the more stunning since he had just been elected in November 2006 with 69 percent of the vote, the most ever in a governor’s race in the state, and some Democrats said he could possibly become the countr y’s first Jewish president.

But his life and career began unraveling last week, when federal agents, acting on wiretaps, busted a high-class New Jerseybased prostitution ring, called Emperors Club VIP, and arrested four people. The criminal complaint listed an anonymous “Client-9,” who was heard calling the escort ser vice to arrange for call girl called “Kristen” to meet him for a Februar y 13 tr yst at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel.

The client allegedly paid for the girl’s train tickets to Washington from New York and $4,300 for a two-hour session. Law enforcement sources confirmed this week that Spitzer was “Client-9.”

Sources familiar with the case said Spitzer remains under investigation for possible violations of the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate travel for “for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery” or other “immoral purposes.”

He could also face conspiracy and money laundering offenses, the sources said. A more streamlined case could involve charges that Spitzer structured his payments to the escort ser vice in a way that was designed to evade bank reporting requirements.

Negotiations between Spitzer and prosecutors likely are complicated by many variables, including his desire to avoid losing his license to practice law, said New York University law school professor Stephen Gillers.

Under New York law, lawyers automatically are disbarred if they are convicted of a felony in state

court. But if they plead guilty in federal court to what New York state law considers a misdemeanor, lawyers are subject to a range of lesser sanctions including public reprimand or suspension.

Even if Spitzer avoids criminal charges, state legislators may still be looking into what they said were several unanswered questions and possible ethics violations. Those include whether Spitzer used public funds to travel out of the state for meetings with prostitutes under the guise of government business and whether the state troopers who provide his protection were aware of his tr ysts.

“If he broke the law, you have to pay the piper,” said Mar tin Golden, a state Senate Republican and former New York City police officer. He said legislators “will want to see the investigation completed.”

Other state lawmakers seemed reluctant to pursue the matter and hoped the affair could be put to rest. “He’s suffered enough embarrassment,” said Harlem assembly member Keith Wright.

There were also still questions about the identities of the other wealthy clients of the Emperors Club VIP. The criminal complaint unsealed last week made reference to 10 clients, without naming them, and only Spitzer has been identified as “Client 9.”

Many here are now wondering: Who are the other nine clients?

It is a guessing game that has echoes of the Washington case of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the socalled “D.C. Madame, whose extensive client list included Randall Tobias, who abruptly resigned as administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who has remained in his job.

News outlets are also hunting for other women who may have had affairs with the governor. One, called “Sienna,” made that claim in interviews with ABC News and Wednesday’s New York Post.

Page 8

Baseball goes 1-2 in series with Gators continued from page 12 and eighth, and closer Anthony Vita ’08 finished the game with a scoreless ninth inning, giving Bruno the 11-2 win.

In the second game on Saturday, Colantonio led Brown’s offensive effort with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, driving in one run and scoring another. Though the Bears led 7-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Gators came away with the win.

Bruno took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, and in the fourth inning, Eno and center fielder Steve Daniels ’09 hit back-to-back RBI singles to score first Punal and then Colantonio.

Florida began to chip away at Brown’s lead, though, as a combination of wild pitches from Alex Silverman ’08, an error by shortstop Matt Nuzzo ’09 and a few timely hits resulted in two runs over the next two innings for the Gators, cutting the lead to 3-2 after five innings.

In the top of the sixth, Nuzzo redeemed himself with an RBI single, and tri-captain third baseman Rob Papenhause ’09 also came

Thursday, March 13, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

through with a two-run single.

Nuzzo later came around to score on a Colantonio single, and the Bears took a 7-2 lead.

Colantonio, a freshman, is currently second on the team with a .350 batting average and .480 on-base percentage and has four RBI and four runs scored.

“I’ve seen myself make a lot of improvement, but a lot of credit goes to the coaches,” Colantonio said. “They worked with us a lot ... on taking different approaches to different pitchers. You’re going to see a lot of good pitchers when you face a team like Florida, so you can’t go up there tr ying to hit home runs. You have to hit singles and line drives ... and trust the guy behind you.”

The Gators continued to fight and cut the lead to 7-4 in the bottom of the sixth. Florida left fielder Josh Adams led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run off of Matt Boylan ’10, sparking a three-run inning to tie the game at seven.

Tri-captain relief pitcher Rob Hallberg ’08 took the mound with two outs in the eighth and got the Bears out of a jam. But

in the ninth, Hallberg loaded the bases with nobody out, and pinch hitter Aver y Barnes drove home the winning run for Florida with a walk-off single.

The final game of the series was disastrous for Brown, who committed five errors in the game, accounting for seven unearned runs. The Gators scored four runs in the first inning and expanded the lead to 9-0 in the second. Br uno managed just four hits in the whole game, and Florida dealt a decisive blow to Brown in the rubber match of the series, 13-2.

“Our game was just off — our hitting, our pitching and our fielding,” Colantonio said. “We couldn’t put up any runs. They put up five runs in the first inning and four runs in the second, and instead of coming back, we kind of just fell over.”

The players remain optimistic, however, especially considering that this is the first time in any of the players’ collegiate careers that Brown has won more than one of its first seven games.

“Early on, a lot of guys are adjusting to new roles, but after this long spring break, ever yone will ... shake the rust off,” Weidig said.

Brown returns to the field on March 22, when it will travel to Asheville, N.C., to face Hartford.

W. track’s distance medley relay team 17th in nation continued from page 12 matching Sarro’s 18th place finish.

The star of the day, however, was Matthew Jasmin ’09, who came out of the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.60 to earn him 10th place, which was just short of qualifying for the final race. Andrew Chapin ’10, the only jumper to travel to Boston on the men’s team this weekend, came out of the triple jump event in 19th place with a jump of 13.98 meters.

The women pulled out an impressive display in the distancemedley relay at the highly competitive ECAC Championships.

Their time ranked them at 17th in the nation, just shy of qualifying for the NCAA National Championships. The relay consists of a 1200-meter leadoff leg followed by a 400-meter leg, an 800-meter leg and a 1600-meter anchor leg.

The team consisted of Kesley Ramsay ’11 running the 1200, Nicole Burns ’09 running the 400, Samantha Adelberg ’11 running the 800 and Smita Gupta ’08 anchoring with the 1600. While all members performed well, with both freshmen earning personal bests, it was Gupta who really shone as the team’s anchor. She ran a split equal to the one run by the anchor on Brown’s 2006 team, which set the

school record. Their overall time was 11:16.83 in comparison to the 2006 record time of 11:15.90.

“The ECACs went extremely well — especially for the women’s Distance Medley relay team,” Lake said. “We were one second shy of breaking the school record set by the All-American team from two years ago. Smita Gupta’s anchor leg in the 1600-meter was extremely impressive. She ran a 4:41 anchor leg which is a huge personal best.”

The female jumpers also excelled in their events, with high jumpers Grace Watson ’11 and Natasha Smith ’11 both earning heights of 5-05.00 feet and tying for 11th place. Tiffany Chang ’08 placed ninth in the pole vault with a height of 11-11.75 feet. Akilah King ’08 rounded out a solid team showing, pulling out a 38-06.25-foot jump to earn 13th place in the triple jump.

The women and men will both have another opportunity to display their prowess, this time outdoors, on March 22 at the Husky Spring Open at Northeastern University.

“I think we finished (the indoor season) pretty solidly,” Chapin said.

“There were a lot of great performances at Heps a few weekends ago so we’re looking good for the start of the outdoor season.”

New policy emphasizes standardized tests continued from page 3 Callahan said.

Callahan, forecasted the plan would be approved in late spring, but said it was subject to change.

“There may be a lot of flaws in this particular test in relying too heavily on a test that’s just given over a couple of days,” she said.

2008 has already been a year of new requirements for high school seniors in Rhode Island. Starting this spring, high school seniors must complete either a senior “capstone” project, present an electronic portfolio demonstrating proficiency in various subjects or an end-of-year exam in addition to accumulating sufficient

course credits, according to Krieger. It is up to each school district to decide which of these three tasks seniors must complete, she said.

The Providence Public School District currently makes its seniors complete 20 credits and create one portfolio and complete the NECAP exam, according to a representative from the guidance office at Hope High School. The portfolio has to contain up to “five pieces of proficient work,” which can include projects and papers, according to the representative.

Callahan reported no complaints about the newly implemented senior projects but said there has been hesitation to embrace the policy of more heavily weighted testing.

“It’s a brand new test” that is designed to match the educational standards of Rhode Island, Callahan said.

“Statewide assesment is very important,” she said. “We need to make sure the test is aligned with what they’re teaching in schools.”

If Rhode Island high school students perform as poorly on the test in the fall of 2008 as some did last fall, many may not graduate under new regulations in 2010. For now, however, current graduating seniors are already dealing with the new senior projects and portfolios. “As of this June, there may be some students who don’t graduate because they haven’t put their portfolio together,” Callahan said.

Rhody case going to D.C. continued from page 3 Healey said Lynch, who brought the issue to the Supreme Court last October, agrees with Carcieri.

Rhode Island has the support of 16 states, who signed onto a Supreme Court brief last year, in which they urged the Court to review Carcieri v. Kempthorne, Healey said.

“With the stroke of a pen, the federal government can unilaterally strip a state of its sovereign jurisdiction by taking land into trust — even where there are currently no federally recognized Indian tribes,” Lynch said, in his Feb. 25 press release.

Both sides agree that the Supreme Court’s decision will have implications for similar cases in the future. With 15 settlement acts “on the horizon” in other states, the issue at hand will have “ramifications far beyond Rhode Island,” the states wrote in their brief to the Supreme Court.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Trudeau ’09: West could be best, East could be least continued from page 12 Still, many people’s preseason finals picks — Phoenix and Dallas — hold the sixth and seventh spots, with everyone’s favorite eighth seed, Golden State, currently entrenched at the bottom.

The Houston Rockets (third), despite losing Yao Ming for the season on Feb. 25, are winners of 19 straight games thanks in large part to littleknown rookie Carl Landry, owner of the 12th-highest player efficiency rating in basketball.

The Jazz (fourth) are 17-3 since acquiring Kyle Korver from the 76ers, giving them the shooter they needed to allow Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams room to operate inside.

New Orleans (fifth) is led by the

world’s best point guard, Chris Paul, and is a two-week slump removed from sitting atop the Western Conference standings.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference playoffs could potentially feature three first-round sweeps (the Wizards, the ’Sixers and the Hawks are playoff teams?).

That equals more of the same — waiting for the semis or even the conference finals before there is any real drama. But all is not lost for the NBA — not if Kobe, Manu, T-Mac, Boozer, CP3, Nash, Dirk and B-Diddy have anything to say about it.

Tom Trudeau ’09 challenges anyone who still thinks Kobe is better than LBJ to a duel

Moses ’09 pitches seven straight innings for the win continued from page 12 “This weekend we learned to be patient at the plate, which gave us confidence. We were able to see a lot of pitches because we drew a lot of walks,” Head Coach DeeDee Enabenter-Omidiji said.

The winning pitcher for the Bears was Michelle Moses ’09, who went all seven innings. She struck out six batters, while giving up only six hits and walking seven.

“Michelle Moses did a great job considering the weather conditions.

It was cold and difficult to get a grip

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

to control the ball, but she hung in there. We stayed with her the whole game and she toughed it out for us,” Enabenter-Omidiji said.

Other players to pick up key RBIs for the Bears were Amanda Asay ’10, Lindsay Rice ’11 and Brittany Lavine ’10. Asay and Rice are now tied for second on the team in total RBIs, with four each, while Chin leads the team with five.

Brown will have this weekend off as they prepare for spring break action in Kissimmee, Fla. The Rebel Spring games begin on March 21 and will continue until March 25.

Water polo struggles to convert power plays continued from page 12 play conversion percentage. The Bears only converted on four of 13 man-advantages, while the Hawks scored on eight of the nine opportunities they had.

“We’re getting the opportunities offensively and attacking the team, but we’re not rewarding ourselves,” Mercado said. “We’re less than 30 percent, and we want it at 60 to 70 percent.”

Alexis Blaxberg ’08 leads the team in ejections drawn, at 26, and was a “key player in drawing ejections in the Hartwick game, which led to power plays,” according to Presant. “We work on our six-on-five offense a lot, and we can get the shots up. We just need to convert,” Blaxberg said.

Presant and Sarah Glick ’10 put in three goals each, and Stephanie Laing ’10 stopped seven shots in net.

It was a different story against NYAC and Utica the next day.

Brown took a 7-4 first-half lead versus NYAC and never looked back. Glick scored four goals, and Presant added three to lead a balanced scoring attack that featured goals from eight different Bears.

Against Utica, the Bears could have packed up and left after the first quarter after bolting to a 7-0 lead. But they stuck around, and

their winning margin surged to 12 by halftime. Two goals in the fourth quarter sealed a solid effort for Bruno after the Pioneers could only muster four scores. Presant and sisters Rory ’09 and Kat Stanton ’11 tallied three goals each while Glick, the team’s assist leader, ser ved up four assists. Laing made seven stops once again.

“I think I know how everyone on the team plays, and I have a good awareness of where they are, which makes it easier to pass them the ball,” Glick said. “I know when they want it and when they don’t want it.” Her 23 assists combine with her 26 goals for a team-leading 49 points for the season.

The Bears allowed non-conference foe Marist to build a 5-1 first-quarter lead in their third and final game on Saturday. In the second quarter, the Bears scored five goals to get within one at halftime, 7-6, but they couldn’t win another quarter after that.

“We had to dig ourselves out of a hole,” Presant said. “It showed a lot of tenacity on our part.”

The Red Foxes matched Brown’s three third-quarter and two fourth-quarter scoring tallies to finish with the win.

“We didn’t play as a team in the very beginning, which led them to score a lot of goals,” Glick said.

“But it is the best game we have

played if you look at the last three quarters — everyone was playing really intensely and as a cohesive unit.”

Presant led with four goals once again, while Glick put in three and Blaxberg tallied two.

“We fought back, and that gave us confidence that we can go out and beat teams like (Marist) with a big bench,” Blaxberg said, referring to the Red Foxes’ ability to sub all six players out, compared to Brown’s four current available subs.

“Having your starters in the entire game is hard,” Blaxberg said. “We just have to learn to fight through that.”

Next up for the Bears is another CWPA North opponent, which should give them another win against one of the team’s biggest rivals. “We expect to beat Harvard because last year we beat them seven times,” Presant said.

The Bears travel up to Cambridge to take on the Crimson tonight at 7:30. Mercado feels the team will bounce back and be ready.

“We have a ver y dif ficult schedule, we didn’t sugarcoat our schedule like some other teams… (cough) Harvard (cough, cough),” Mercado said. “Overall, there’s a lot of bright spots, and I know we’ll be ready for Harvard.”

E ditorial & L etters Page 10

Thursday, March 13, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

S t a ff E d i t o r i a l

Our theory of computation Our newsroom has a good number of humanities concentrators. Writing for fun? Interviewing strangers? Debating whether split infinitives are egregious grammatical errors or a valid style choice? The job, understandably, holds more appeal for a rising reporter than an aspiring astrophysicist.

But though many of us may prefer to devote the majority of our education to literary or historical pursuits, we’re not insular. We go to the SciLi just as frequently as the Rock — and similarly, we recognize just how important a familiarity with ideas of a more scientific nature can be, despite placing some of our academic emphases elsewhere. Brown is a liberal arts institution, and its prototypical student graduates with a broad sampling of academic departments.

The recent trend in the Department of Computer Science — of graduating fewer concentrators and with a greater proportion of those being Sc.B. degrees — is disconcerting given the undue focus on concentrators it would seem to entail. The department’s “fad” status seems to have decreased following the dot-com bust earlier this decade, as prospective concentrators see better job prospects in other fields. Meanwhile, students serious about pursuing a job in the field are encouraged strongly to choose the more rigorous Sc.B. option, and with good reason. This trend signifies the evolving culture of the department: an emphasis on concentrators rather than those who would like to dabble in the department. But as the department — established in its own right in 1979 — approaches middle-age, it’s ever more important that the skills and training it has to offer remain available to concentrators and non-concentrators alike.

Without the complex technology underlying our computers, we’d have a much harder time bringing you these catchy headlines in our paper — let alone the tips about how early you’d need to get in line for Spring Weekend tickets. And while we have great respect for those magically talented programmers on whose efforts our daily activities depend, we’d doubtlessly use these shining geekboxes more efficiently if we had a better grasp of what was going on behind the computer’s desktop.

The most popular classes at Brown speak to students’ educational priorities. VISA 0100: “Studio Foundation,” TSDA 0220: “Persuasive Communication” and ENGL 0180: “Introduction to Creative Nonfiction” may have broader appeal than CSCI 0190: “Programming with Data Structures and Algorithms.” All the same, we’d like to see more computer science courses offered for the non-concentrator. Perhaps there should be a middle ground between the simplicity of such courses as CSCI 0020: “Concepts and Challenges of Computer Science,” and the more serious introductions offered in courses like CSCI 0150: “Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming and Computer Science.”

We’ll readily admit that many of us don’t want to learn how to create the next killer operating system. But we’d love to learn about principles of web design and user interfaces without having to first rediscover the theory of computation.

T he B rown D aily H erald Editors-in-Chief Simmi Aujla Ross Frazier editorial Arts & Culture Editor Robin Steele Asst. Arts & Culture Editor Andrea Savdie Higher Ed Editor Debbie Lehmann Features Editor Chaz Firestone Asst. Features Editor Olivia Hoffman Metro Editor Rachel Arndt Metro Editor Scott Lowenstein News Editor Mike Bechek News Editor Isabel Gottlieb News Editor Franklin Kanin News Editor Michael Skocpol Opinions Editor Karla Bertrand Opinions Editor James Shapiro Sports Editor Whitney Clark Sports Editor Amy Ehrhart Sports Editor Jason Harris Asst. Sports Editor Benjy Asher Asst. Sports Editor Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Editor Megan McCahill

Senior Editors Taylor Barnes Chris Gang Stu Woo Business Darren Ball General Manager General Manager Mandeep Gill Susan Dansereau Office Manager Alex Hughes Sales Manager Lily Tran Sales Manager Public Relations Director Emilie Aries Jon Spector Accounting Director Claire Kiely National Account Manager University Account Manager Ellen DaSilva Darren Kong Recruiter Account Manager Credit Manager Katelyn Koh Ingrid Pangandoyon Technology Director

A lexander sayer gard - murray

L e tt e r s Baseball analysis is on base To the Editor: I commend Dan Davidson’s analysis of Andy Pettitte (“Andy’s no angel,” March 11). The use of the “conditional apology” — where the public figure prefaces his/her regrets with the phrase, “If I upset anyone...” or “If I offended anyone ... then I apologize” has become the standard language of the lawyers and publicists for clients in sports, politics and celebrity life. It’s good

that a columnist is asking people to take responsibility for what they actually said or did.

Good job, Dan.

Neill Goltz Director of Planned Giving Grinnell College March 11

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O pinions Thursday, March 13, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Page 11

The case for bombing Iran

BY ANISH MITRA Opinions Columnist For the past year, our nation’s foreign policy regarding Iran has been a hot topic. From the intersection of Thayer and Waterman streets to Washington, individuals have debated whether or not the current administration should take more decisive actions against Iran. I believe tactical strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities will likely be necessary to prevent global catastrophe.

Before I continue, allow me to clarify a few things. First, although I have some neoconservative leanings, I support aggressive measures in Iran to preserve security, not to spread democracy. Second, I am in no way advocating the destruction of Iranian cities, or the mass killing of innocent civilians. I only support tactical strikes in order to destroy nuclear and other weapons sites and to effectively curtail Iranian nuclear ambitions.

If Iran procures a nuclear weapon, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and possibly North America would easily fall within striking range.

Coupled with the fact that Iran is a strong sponsor of international terrorism, it is clear that Iranian nuclear weapons could easily end up in the hands of America’s enemies. Given the gravity of the situation at hand, I believe it is entirely necessary to accept bombing Iran as a legitimate course of action if all other diplomatic means have been exhausted.

This is not a radical idea. President Bill Clinton justified his 1998 tactical bombing of Iraq by appealing to “the national interest of the United States, and indeed the interests

of people throughout the Middle East and around the world.”

Critics of this and similar proposals often point to the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate as evidence that Iran has halted its nuclear program. Although the 2007 NIE has been glorified by the media, many of its “conclusions” are misrepresented, and many of its elements are inherently flawed. Individuals who use the 2007 NIE to oppose any effort to strike Iran should take note of clause H: “We assess with high confidence that Iran has the scientific, technical and industrial capacity

For instance, many of the report’s findings (as stated in the NIE) are based upon examinations of “Iran’s nuclear weapon design and weaponization work and covert uranium conversion-related and uranium enrichmentrelated work.” As former UN ambassador and Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton has pointed out, this is extremely misleading since Iran produces enriched uranium with its civilian program, and this program has always posed the greatest risk of a nuclear “breakout.” The 2007 NIE fails to address the civilian program, and therefore

We can hardly begin to fathom the nightmare that would result if Iran, the world’s foremost sponsor of terror, realized its nuclear ambitions. eventually to produce nuclear weapons if it decides to do so.” Ultimately, even the 2007 NIE confirms that it is only a matter of time until Iran develops a nuke; whether it happens sooner or later, the consequences and implications will be the same.

In addition to the explicit admission of Iran’s capabilities, there are other aspects of the 2007 NIE that deserve closer scrutiny.

does not provide a comprehensive account of Iran’s true nuclear enrichment activities.

Additionally, 140 pages of the report still remain classified.

At best, the 2007 NIE affirms that Iran can develop nuclear weapons by late 2009. Those who allege that Iran will remain peaceful and stable after acquiring a nuclear weapon are gravely mistaken. We can hardly begin to

fathom the nightmare that would result if Iran, the world’s foremost sponsor of terror, realized its nuclear ambitions.

We should follow President Clinton’s example (in this limited instance) and tactically bomb Iran to prevent it from exponentially increasing its capacity for terror. For those who remain skeptical, consider this modest summar y of Iran’s terrorist resume: Iran helped to found, and continues to support Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a terrorist militant group, and regularly provides aid to Palestine’s Hamas, another terrorist organization. As a matter of fact, since 1992, Iran has channeled millions of dollars into Hamas’ “Fund for the Martyrs” which provides aid to the families of suicide bombers.

Iran was strongly suspected of supporting Hezbollah’s attack on Israel in 2006, an event which spurred a brief war between Lebanon and Israel. Hundreds and thousands of explosions, lives and gunshots later, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad still calls for Israel to be “wiped off the map.” If we refuse to take any aggressive, preventative measures, he just might get his wish.

“The United States of America will not permit the world’s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world’s most destructive weapons.” George W. Bush’s bold words, originally delivered during his 2002 State of the Union address, resonates now more than ever. Ahmadinejad’s Iran is well on its way to procuring a nuclear weapon, and must be halted in its tracks.

Anish Mitra ’10 secretly does advocate for the destruction of Iranian cities and the mass killing of innocent civilians

Want to serve your country?

BY SARAH ROSENTHAL Opinions Columnist If you’re anything like me, you probably just wince at the idea of leaving your comfortable life at Brown to join the military and go to Iraq, and then feel a little guilty for being such a spoiled wuss. But there is more than one way to serve your country.

I spent the summer of 2006 in Israel, touring the country on a bus with about 15 Israelis and 20 Americans. As we watched the war with Lebanon unfold, I was struck by how eagerly my Israeli friends seemed to enter the army. Some would be infantrymen or pilots, of course. Others would be medics, teachers, engineers or chaplains. All would give several years of their lives in service of their country, and they didn’t mind at all.

Presented with this example of mandatory service, and thinking of similar models in countries like Singapore and Germany, I kept thinking about what a waste it was that after Sept. 11, all our leaders asked of us was to go shopping. It would have been the perfect moment to introduce the idea of universal national service.

At this point, it may be too late. This is a tricky time to advocate for national service. With the horribly unpopular war in Iraq draining our resources and killing our young people, the “good war” in Afghanistan looking increasingly difficult to win, and the global war on terror stretching out for the next billion or so years, it’s easy to understand why people would resist a measure that they confuse with the draft, and rightly so. So many people have ideological objections to these wars that forcing them to serve in the military would likely raise already substantial

disillusionment and political instability to toxic levels. Besides, the army isn’t for everyone.

I know I would make a terrible soldier and, looking around at my fellow students digging into their fro-yo and cheesecake brownies, I doubt this bunch of dyed-in-the-wool lefty intellectuals would thrive in a military culture.

But we all have something to give to our countr y. Mandator y national ser vice is the best way to ensure that this potential isn’t squandered when enticing paychecks

AmeriCorps participant brings in, on average, nine new volunteers. This is a growth in government that is undeniably working, and a model worth expanding.

A Democratic president and a Democratic congress initiated AmeriCorps, and there is no doubt that most liberals love the idea of increased participation in social services, yet it is not simply a Democratic darling. Senator John McCain, initially against the creation of AmeriCorps, called for its expansion after Sept. 11. William F. Buckley Jr., the founder of

But we all have something to give to our country. Mandatory national service is the best way to ensure that this potential isn’t squandered when enticing paychecks beckon. beckon.

Could it happen in this land of individualism and so-called “small government”?

Consider the case of AmeriCorps. Established by Bill Clinton in 1993 and supported

by George W. Bush throughout his tenure, AmeriCorps provides volunteers to tutor in public schools, work with the Red Cross, build for Habitat for Humanity, assist the elderly, combat floods and fires, clean national parks — the list goes on and on. Moreover, each

the conservative National Review, wrote in his book “Gratitude” that “Materialistic democracy beckons every man to make himself a king; republican citizenship incites every man to be a knight. National service, like gravity, is something we could accustom ourselves to, and grow to love.” National service may be controversial, especially in view of the Iraq war, but it is something that can and should appeal to the entire ideological spectrum To call for national service isn’t to prod

a bunch of shiftless narcissists into action.

On their own initiative, bright young college graduates defer high-paying job offers to work for Teach for America. Thousands have gone to New Orleans to aid in the clean-up.

Economists wonder why so many line up to give blood when there’s no possible financial incentive.

But it’s not enough. Universal national service would do something more than provide outlets for those already inclined toward volunteerism. It would instill a sense of personal discipline, collective pride and obligation to community and country. In a culture of greed, where people who shuffle money around get bonuses three times as big as a teacher’s entire annual salary, national service would expose everyone to the challenges and rewards of serving something other than yourself. This is what the country urgently needs.

Our generation is frequently faulted for our political apathy and praised for our high rates of volunteerism. Personally, I think going out into the community and interacting with others to change their lives is a better way to effect change than a campus protest for the cause du jour. But imagine if the government we’ve written off as corrupt and ineffectual could harness our energy across the country. Imagine if we treated problems concerning health care, education, infrastructure and so on with the same urgency and efficiency that we treat military threats. Imagine if they offered the same incentives for service in rural schools, for disaster recovery, for helping the poor and the sick. Imagine what we could build.

Sarah Rosenthal ’11 is eating fro-yo on the front lines

S ports T hursday Page 12

Thursday, March 13, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Baseball swamps Gators, ending weekend series 1-2

Wild West ready for East’s best The NBA’s best player (LeBron James) and best team (Boston Celtics) happen to play in the Eastern Conference. However, the best overall talent still comes from the wild, wild West, where, for the first time since the NBA adopted the Tom Trudeau current playoff Tru Story format in 1984, it might actually make sense to have eight teams in the post-season.

With the exception of the 1999 New York Knicks, who finished as an eighth seed in a lockout shortened season before their run to the finals; the 1994 Denver Nuggets and the 2007 Golden State Warriors, each of which was knocked out after their first round upset, seeds five through eight have been something of an afterthought. The sixth-seeded 1995 Houston Rockets were the lowest seed ever to win a title, but their modest regular season record was mostly a product of injuries to starters Hakeem Olajuwon, Vernon Maxwell and Robert Horry. Also, they only got 35 games out of Hall of Fame-bound Clyde Drexler, whom they acquired in a mid-season trade.

The West’s 2008 post-season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting ever because seeds one through eight are all capable of winning a seven-game series. There will still be favorites: The Lakers (first in the Western Conference) could enter the playoffs with two all-star-caliber seven footers to play alongside Kobe Bryant if Andrew Bynum can ever return from his injury, and the Spurs (second in the conference) are the defending champions. continued on page 9

By Benjy Asher Assistant Spor ts Editor

Courtesy of dspics.com

Will Weidig ‘10 struck out seven batters while holding the Florida Gators to just two runs over eight innings in an 11-2 win for the baseball team.

The baseball team stunned the University of Florida with an 11-2 win on Saturday afternoon, but the Bears dropped the next two games of the series, Brown 11 7 2 8-7 later on Florida 2 8 13 S a t u r d a y and 13-2 on Sunday. Fielding errors and bullpen trouble continued to plague Brown over the weekend, and the Bears now have a record of 3-4.

In the first game, pitcher Will Weidig ’10 turned in a strong start, allowing just two runs in eight innings and striking out seven batters. This performance came as a relief to the team, since Weidig, whom catcher Matt Colantonio ’11 labeled the “ace” of the pitching staff, had been shaky in his first start, when he allowed six runs in seven innings to the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“I think in my first start, I was really excited, and I wasn’t focusing on every pitch I threw, so I was getting in a groove and then out of the groove,” Weidig said. “Against Florida, I was able to focus on ev-

Water polo splits weekend games

By Amy Ehrhart Spor ts Editor

The women’s water polo team (3-9, 1-1) opened up conference play this weekend with a split against league foes Har twick College, taking a 20-8 loss, and Utica College, grabbing a 15-4 win. They also beat the New York Athletic Club team, made up of former Olympians, 13-9, and lost a close last game to Marist College, 12-11, at Hartwick’s home

pool in Oneonta, N.Y. “We’re still coming together and learning about each other’s tendencies,” said Lauren Presant ’10, who tallied 13 goals this weekend to add to her teamleading 31 goals. “We’re such a young team; it takes a little bit of time.”

With seven underclassmen, the Bears have not earned the best preseason record so far, but Head Coach Felix Mercado is not worried because they have

been playing a difficult schedule, having played against six top-20 teams already.

“Our win-loss record is hard for (the players) right now,” Mercado said. “It’s going to really pay off (playing hard teams), but we’re not reaping the benefits right now.”

Brown opened up the weekend against No. 18 Hartwick, losing the game with a bad power continued on page 9

Softball takes down Canisius in tourney

By Nicole Stock Sports Staff Writer

The weather was cold in Baltimore, but the softball team heated things up with an 8-2 win over Canisius College last Friday 2 Canisius at the UMBC Dawg Pound 8 Brown Tournament.

The other game of the weekend against the University of Maryland at Baltimore County was cancelled due to inclement weather. The win improved the Bears to 2-3 on the season.

Brown fell behind, 1-0, in the top of the first inning but quickly tallied three runs of their own in the bottom half. Kelsey Wilson ’09 fueled the Bears’ early comeback with a single up the middle on the first pitch of her at-bat, putting runners at first and second with one out. Wilson went 2-for-3 in the game with two singles and a walk. She also leads the team in batting average at .692.

“I felt good at the plate. I hit the first pitch on the first at-bat, which

gave me confidence to attack the pitches I liked later in the game,” Wilson said.

The first inning saw Amy Baxter ’08, Linnea Anderson ’08 and Kristie Chin ’11 cross the plate for Brown.

Chin finished the game 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. Brown was able to gain momentum and set the tone early for the rest of the game.

The Bears went down one-twothree in the bottom of the second, but scored in each of the following four innings to take a commanding 8-1 lead. Brown was able to chase Golden Griffins starting pitcher Lindsay Morris from the game in the fourth inning. The Bears were further able to capitalize on their opponent’s mistakes by getting people on base and advancing runners with key hits and wild pitches. The Bears focused on improving their defensive play all week, which paid off as they were able to hold Canisius to only two runs. Canisius tacked on one more run in the top of the seventh, but it was too little, too late. continued on page 9

Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo

Kelsey Wilson ‘09 went 2-for-3 with two runs scored to lead the softball team to an 8-2 win on Friday.

ery pitch I was throwing more than usual.”

The Gators managed just five hits and two walks off of Weidig, who overpowered their hitters with a combination of fastballs and hard sliders.

“My slider was a little bit softer against UAB,” Weidig said. “This week, (Head) Coach (Marek) Drabinski worked with me on throwing the slider harder, and that was my out pitch against Florida.”

The game remained in a scoreless tie through the first three innings, but an RBI single off the bat of designated hitter Conor Reardon ’08 put the Bears ahead 1-0, and they never looked back. First baseman J.J. Eno ’08 hit a double to drive home Colantonio in the fifth, and right fielder Nick Punal ‘10increased the lead to 5-0 with a three-run homer in the sixth.

In the bottom of the sixth, Florida finally ended Weidig’s shutout bid with a two-run inning, but the Bears came back to score four runs in the eighth inning and another two in the ninth. Weidig held the Gators scoreless in the seventh continued on page 8

W. track just short of team record at champs

By Lara Southern Spor ts Staff Writer

The men’s and women’s track and field teams roared through Boston last weekend to deliver an impressive display of skill and determination at the IC4A Championships for the men and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships for the women. Four male runners emerged from the competition with personal best times, while the women’s relay team fell just short of breaking the school record set by an All-American Brown team two years ago.

The men performed strongly in the individual races on Sunday, with outstanding performances from some of the younger members of the distance squad. Duriel Hardy ’10, Colin Brett ’10 and Ari Zamir ’08 all spurred each other on in the 3000-meter race, remaining neck-and-neck throughout and all scoring personal best times as a result. Hardy crossed the finish line in 10th place with a time of 8:17.93, while Brett and Zamir battled it out for 17th and 18th, with Zamir coming out on top with a time of 8:19.25, just ahead of Brett’s 8:19.37 time.

“Hardy and Brett demonstrated that the future is bright for the men’s distance program as they set personal bests in the 3k along with senior Ari Zamir,” said Head Coach Craig Lake.

In the middle distance events, Nick Sarro ’08 performed well, running a time of 4:20.79 in the mile, and Sean O’Brien ’09 emerged from the 800 with a time of 1:52.90, continued on page 8